Disclaimer: This is my half-assed translation attempt and is not intended to be painstakingly accurate or replace actually reading the texts. I’m going more for the gist of things. Obviously, there’s going to be personal bias in the interpretations.

Introduction: The recent Viking-Age discoveries at Woodstown, near Waterford, in the Irish province of Munster, have highlighted the need to assess the importance of Waterford as a viking-settlement in the ninth and tenth centuries. Mainly drawing on written sources, I set out in this paper to discuss: (a) the site of Woodstown and the origins of Waterford; (b) Waterford’s relationship with other vikingsettlements in Ireland and (c) links with neighbouring Irish polities; (d) Waterford’s economic significance; and finally, (e) the external contacts of the port. I shall restrict my analysis to the years before A.D. 1035 when Waterford was ruled by viking-kings.

In Ireland, the Viking-Age is conventionally dated from the first recorded viking-raids in 795 until the Angevin invasion of 1171/2. The enduring contribution of these centuries is the foundation of major Irish ports – including Waterford, Dublin, and Limerick – which brought Ireland into closer contact with viking-colonies throughout Europe. The nature of vikings’ impact on Irish history is still hotly debated, and it is hoped that further research at Woodstown will shed new light on this formative period of Irish history.

Hi there 🙂 What’s your favourite book or resource for rune meanings? I picked up a cheap one but because it was so cheap I don’t trust it and would like to see what you think is a reliable source and work off that if my own isn’t great. Thanks! ❤ Thanks in general for your whole blog! ❤

Dear vivi-shiba,

This will sound bad, but what’s out there is terrible, terrible, and even more terrible. Every easily-obtainable, affordable book has major drawbacks, inaccuracies, and biases to it.

The woo-related book I have in my collection that I consider the least-bad of the bunch is Futhark by Edred Thorsson (Stephen Flowers), and that one needs to be read with a heaping pile of salt due to the way he tries to shoehorn Temple of Set and ceremonial magic ideas into things. Or “runic yoga”, which makes me laugh a bit.

(I’ve read a lot of unusual UPG and magic rune books that are out on the market, including some that most people haven’t ever seen or heard of because they were little niche publications. It probably says something that I feel the least-bad one is the Setian one. It says something, too, that I’ve stumbled across a few books that more or less copied Futhark and presented their material as original thought.)

You can’t go wrong with studying the original rune poems themselves and making your own connections, which is what every other author did. The poems are freely available online, but if you want extra background, Stephen Pollington’s Rudiments of Runelore is fantastic, easy to get, and very affordable. He’s a bit dry because he’s writing on a scholarly level, but his information is solid and he’s got an amazing bibliography in the back for ideas of other places to look for information. I highly recommend him.

I’ve also made a free rune series detailing UPG/correspondences with each rune, minus some of the rarer ones attached to the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc that people tend to ignore. You could simply print those pages out if you find them helpful.

I’ve also got a post about the other rune poems (aside from the main three) that people tend to overlook.

If you’re not interested in woo/divination rune stuff, but are interested in runology, that’s actually a completely different question. I’d recommend asking thorraborinn for recommendations in that direction.

Best resources for learning about Angrbo∂a, Gullveig, and Heidr?? I have a weird UPGish feeling that Gullveig is Heidr, but may not necessarily be Angrbo∂a. Admittedly i haven’t really read enough to be sure of my feels yet and I am on the lookout for more infos. Thanks a million.

After years of thinking about it, I’ve decided to convert to paganism, specifically following Loki. However, I’m converting from Christianity and I’m having a lot of trouble connecting with Him. I’ve been making offerings, but is it possible that He doesn’t want to work with me because I used to be Christian? Do you think he’s viewing me as an oath-breaker because I’m not worshiping God anymore, and that’s why He’s not saying anything?

Dear Anon,

I come from a very conservative Christian family and background. I got pushed through all the way through Confirmation (although I didn’t swear an oath when standing with a group of other students, although my parents did decide to baptize and dedicate me when I was too young to make a decision for myself). A lot of Heathens also were brought up as Christians and later converted away from it.

I think you just need to give it some time. Sometimes connections form right away, sometimes it takes a frustratingly long, painful amount of time to get a response back. I don’t think it has anything to do with your Christian background.

Hello there, Relatively new to asatru ( doing research about 6months, practicing around a month). I’m curious as to your thoughts (and any lore) around ostara. I like the idea of the holiday but most info I’ve found basically says ” it’s up for debate, do as you see fit.” I’m not even entirely sure it’s a true asatru holiday as it’s not always listed by groups I’ve looked at. This year I said a brief prayer, and oddly enough was greeted by a handful of rabbits outside my home later that day.